Marcus Collins

Marcus Collins is a marketing expert, award-winning advertiser, bestselling author, and Marketing Professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. Recognized as the leading authority on leveraging the power of culture to influence behavior and inspire collective change, Marcus studies how culture shapes what we buy, what we do, and who we want to be. His work bridges the academic-practitioner gap for both degree-seeking students and business executives, helping companies unlock the power of culture to move people to action.

Over the past decade, Marcus has helped blue-chip brands like McDonald’s, Google, and AB-InBev navigate digital transformation to create contagious marketing ideas that extend across online and offline worlds. As former Chief Strategy Officer at Wieden + Kennedy, New York, he launched notable campaigns including “Cliff Paul” for State Farm, the Made In America Music Festival for Budweiser, “Hello Brooklyn” for the Brooklyn Nets, and the Eggo + Netflix’s Stranger Things conquest. His strategic and creative contributions have earned him recognition as an Advertising Age 40 Under 40 recipient, a Clio award winner, and in 2020, he was inducted into the American Advertising Federation Hall of Fame.

Prior to advertising, Marcus worked in music and tech as a startup co-founder (Muse Recordings), led iTunes + Nike sport music initiatives at Apple, and served as Head of Digital Strategy for Beyoncé. Growing up as a Black kid in Detroit who swam competitively, studied engineering, spent summers at band camp, and loved the Monkees as much as A Tribe Called Quest, Marcus developed a unique ability to observe cultural codes and build empathic understanding—skills he has since strengthened into an actionable practice that allows him to translate culture for brands and brands for culture.

Marcus is the author of the bestselling book For the Culture: The Power Behind What We Buy, What We Do, and Who We Want to Be and a regular contributor to Forbes. He holds a BSE in Materials Science Engineering and an MBA with an emphasis in Strategic Brand Marketing from the University of Michigan, and is a doctoral candidate at Temple University. But most importantly, he is Alex’s husband and Georgia & Ivy’s father.